The relay fits nicely bolted to the outside of the underseat storage box just in front or inside of the rear
shock preload adjuster where the box gets more narrow.
You can access the plug from just under the body panel, I have mine zip tied
to the subframe where I can still get to it.

Mine too along with the remote receiver. The connector for the winch I have routed to where the shock adjuster is and secured with a velcro strap. That puts it at the middle of the bike and the winch can be used both at the front or back, left or right. (Left or right you ask? Yup, I use it to help lift the bike when I fall over. )

Mine too along with the remote receiver. The connector for the winch I have routed to where the shock adjuster is and secured with a velcro strap. That puts it at the middle of the bike and the winch can be used both at the front or back, left or right. (Left or right you ask? Yup, I use it to help lift the bike when I fall over. )

I have the exact same setup

__________________The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself...

It seems kind of tight mounting outside the storage box near the pre-load adjuster. The other side has more room but I am worried about the heat coming up off the H pipe even though I just had the exhaust pipes ceramic coated.

I am going to try and fit it inside the storage box above the alarm system. That is when I can get enough time between chasing the 11 month old around.

I absolutely will not ride the big bikes off-road without one ever again. I ride by myself a lot and recovering a 500-6600 bike solo is typically not an option. We had one of the riders in our group go off the side of a cliff last year. Straight down with absolutely no traction. MAYBE we could have recovered it with 8 guys and a long rope (which most of us don't carry either) but we all would have been beat. Anything short of that would have involved a tow truck, 40 miles from the pavement and probably a $500 bill.

The winch turned this into a minor inconvenience. 30 minutes later we were back on the trail and none of us were physically wiped out so we could enjoy the rest of the day. Just brilliant.

When operating the xt17, do you typically have the bike that is supplying the battery power running? Any issues with loading on the alternator on the BMW R1200GSA?

We find it best to keep the bike running if possible. Helps keep the battery full. A high Idle will give you more amps for faster battery recovery. If it's under water though, do what what ever you can to get it out out of the water.

If you used too long and too much it would be like trying to start your bike over and over again in the cold. Eventually, you'll have a dead battery if your bike won't run.

Battery should hold long enough for a few heavy duty pulls, but that depends on your batter condition to start with.

Many thanks. Do you find that the stock battery is sufficient or would you go with a higher amp-hour battery such as the shorai? Or would that just give you more chances to not run the battery to far down since you have more to work with :)